


Grave Encounters

by magical mythical mishaps (osochan)



Series: Literally [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-01 14:26:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14522586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osochan/pseuds/magical%20mythical%20mishaps
Summary: In a place where many experience ends, a pair experience the birth of many beginnings.





	1. I Believe in Fate

**Author's Note:**

> It's exactly what it says on the tin. Enjoy!

When Ryan was a child, his mother would often send him to sleep the same old wives’ tale. After being tucked in, he would still writhe with childish energy that the day’s activities failed to wring out him while waiting for his mother to spin his favorite tale: that of the red string of fate. 

Seated on the side of his bed, a warm arm curled tenderly around her son’s shoulders, she would begin by describing what the red string was. It was, true to its name, a red string connecting two souls destined to be lovers by the pinky. The string could knot and twist but would never break. 

After giving Ryan a few moments to voice his never-ending wonder and fascination with this phenomenon, she would proceed to tell the tale of how she met his father. How the red string neatly knotted into a bow around her pinky finger appeared one day in her teens and how she spent years debating whether to follow it and wondering if the person on the other end could see it too. By then Ryan’s eyelids have grown heavy with exhaustion and moments later, he was sound asleep. He would dream about the day his own red string of fate would appear, leading him to his spouse. He would dream about going on perilous journeys to find who was waiting on the other end of the string, watching the thin strand of red stretch and bend yet never yielding to the universe.

However the dreams would always abruptly end in the middle of the adventures, leading Ryan to wake up in a bad mood. He never told his mother about these dreams, wanting to tell her a wondrous tale of him fighting through hell and high water to reach his beautiful bride waiting for him at the end of the thread instead.

\---

When Ryan entered middle school, he began to think of the idea of having a fated lover to be stupid. A person fated to be his lover? What a ridiculous concept! He was not at all mad at the fact that his string had not revealed itself to him yet. The complaints he voiced aloud to his mother made her giggle much to his disdain. 

“It's a game of patience dear,” would be her reply, ruffling his hair afterwards. Ryan would groan in annoyance and grumble about myths. The giggles turned into laughs that have Ryan storming off, seeking the comfort of his room.

Thirty minutes later, he would slink out of his room regardless of whether he was still frustrated or not to catch some quality time with the television before he had to lock himself up in his room to finish the homework assigned to him. His mother would approach him then with a glass of chilled water and a snack.

“Are you making peace with me?” Ryan questions, directing his gaze to the tray in her hands.

There's a light laugh that came from her before she spoke. “Making peace? Did you learn that in school?” She offered the tray to him, which he took gladly proceeded to eagerly gulp down half the glass’s contents.

A nod. “Yeah, we're starting to learn about wars and stuff. It's okay.” He took a bite out of the food prepared for him. “So is this a peace offering or?”

“Sure, you can call it that.” With a grin, she ruffled her son's hair again. “You know, maybe if you listened to the whole story when you were younger, perhaps you'd see your situation in a new perspective.”

Ryan's features twisted into a grimace and he quickly turned his attention to the television. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Ryan!”

\---

Having landed in detention for a rather minor offense, Ryan sat quietly in the middle school classroom with a blank expression. The loud voices of his classmates bidding each other goodbye flowed into the room through the open window. _This is stupid_ , he thought, _this is stupid and what happened wasn’t completely my fault_. After his classmates left the school grounds silence filled the room, occasionally broken by the sound of a pencil scratching against a sheet of paper and the teacher supervising him clearing her throat. 

The longest 30 minutes of his life had passed and he was let go after a small lecture about how he shouldn’t distract his fellow classmates from their learning and blah blah blah. Ryan’s surroundings became a hazy blur as he tuned out everything, favoring the thought of playing with his friends later. 

As he started the trek home his head entered the clouds, entertaining the thought of neglecting his homework for other, funner activities. Though Ryan was rudely pulled from his reverie when he felt a harsh tug on his pinky finger that caused him to trip. The fall sent him into a small panic as he frantically surveyed the area, hoping there were no witnesses to his embarrassing blunder. 

After the initial panic passed, he noticed that he tripped on some red string sitting in front of him. It confused him; who the hell would drop string here? However, when he squatted to get a closer look at the string he noticed that it created a path and after putting two and two together, he noticed that one end of the string was tied to his pinky.

“Oh my God,” Ryan exhaled. “Oh my God, this is… This is… No way!” He was elated that the darn string decided to finally show itself. 

Taking a portion of the string into his hands, he felt it and found that it wasn't at all like the soft yarn he envisioned. It was thin, similar to the dental floss samples that he would receive from his dentist after appointments every now and then. The only difference was that it wasn't covered in a sticky, flavored coating and was incapable of breaking (or so he hoped).

The slack string began to quickly pull in the direction in front of Ryan until it became taut, in doing so pulling on Ryan's pinky hard. He caught himself this time and grew confused. A faraway feeling of fear that wasn't his washed over him, and it was then he decided that friends be damned because his fated one seemed to need him right now.

It wasn't the dangerous adventure he had dreamt about, but it will have to do. Perhaps he could still do some saving once he arrived.

\---

Indeed the journey wasn't dangerous at all, save for the potential nasty falls that could have been had thanks to tree roots disrupting the flow of the sidewalk. Though he figured that where the string decided to lead him to could be considered somewhat dangerous. He expected a park, the neighboring school, hell, maybe even a house, but not this.

A graveyard. His stupid string of fate led him to the stupid, godforsaken place that he'd been dared on many occasions by friends and classmates alike to walk through for a buck or two alone. There was some semblance of reason in his brain, so he refused all offers despite seeing other classmates walk in and out fine. 

Yet here he was, about to go against his voice of reason. _Sometimes the universe likes to make its own rules_ , he thought in an attempt to rationalize his decision to enter. _Fate doesn't like to be reasonable_.

“Well, here goes nothing.” He sighed, psyching himself up as much as he could before taking the first step into the graveyard. Ryan hoped to find his soulmate soon because not only was he excited, but the constant tugging on his finger was beginning to hurt. The string seemed to shrink, so he took that to mean he was close to whoever was waiting on the end.

The cemetery was strangely hilly and for some twisted reason, the string insisted on taking him up and down every hill the plot of land had. Throughout the journey, Ryan could've sworn something was watching him. He chalked it up to his paranoia as checking over his shoulder and scanning his surroundings didn't yield any results. Did he even want results? Regardless, he couldn't shake the feeling off so he did his best to push it to the back of his head. After all, he had to press on. 

By the time his legs started to ache, Ryan swore he saw the end of the string at the top of hill that had a huge oak tree sitting on it. It could have easily been exhaustion catching up to him, but he desperately clung to the hope that it was the end. Summoning the rest of his strength, he burst into a run up the hill.

When Ryan reached the top, his hunch had been right. It was the end of the string, and at the end was his supposed soulmate. He struggled to catch his breath since exhilaration threatened to take what was left of it. As he moved closer to the person on the other end of the red thread, he noticed three things.

The first was that his soulmate was a boy. A kid seemingly close to his own age, but a boy nonetheless. Ryan felt a twinge of disappointment since his dreams had been wrong all along, but fate had connected them together for a reason right? 

The second was that he was in a graveyard. Of all places, why here?

The third was that this boy had done his best to appear as small as possible; his legs were bent and his arms kept them close to his chest, head making a pillow out of his knees. His hair was disheveled and his frame quivered slightly. Ryan thought he saw red rimming the boy's eyes as well, but his face was mostly concealed so he wasn't sure.

Ah. He understood now. Comforting people in a creepy environment wasn't his ideal first meeting, but he would try his best for his soulmate (and maybe one day they could meet in a place that wasn't filled with dead people). Ryan mustered all his courage and made himself known to the other by clearing his throat.

“Uh… Are you okay?” Ryan tentatively took a seat next to the boy and rested his back against the thick trunk of the oak tree, red thread shrinking appropriately to fit between them. 

“Peachy,” the boy croaked out in a hoarse voice, sparing Ryan a questioning glance. 

Ryan was puzzled. “What do peaches have to do with this?” 

“No, that's not--” The boy's reply was interrupted by laughter. “Wow! Do you not know what that means?”

Typically, a surge of embarrassed would come over him when someone would point out something he doesn't know, but a feeling of happiness washed over his heart instead when he managed to ease a laugh out of the sad boy. Yet he still had pride and sometimes his mouth was faster than his brain. “What? There's nothing-- Not everyone can know everything y’know.” His cheeks grew pink. “And what kind of word is “peachy” anyways?”

Holy crap, he said that out loud. To his soulmate. He wanted to punch himself right now, completely forgetting the fact that they were in a cemetery. 

However, his defensive retort eased another laugh from the boy sitting next to him. “Dude! It's okay to not know something. I'm not gonna think you're like… stupid. Maybe.” There was smirk on his face and Ryan suddenly wanted to punch him instead. “I'm Shane. Who are you?” 

“Uh… Ryan. I'm Ryan.” He wiggled his pinky and noticed that the string was gone. 

“Well, thanks for talking to me. I--” Right as Shane was getting up to leave, Ryan halted him by grabbing his wrist. This earned him a look.

“Wait!” Ryan quickly exclaimed, panicking as he didn't want to let his soulmate slip from his fingers right after they met since the string connecting them decided it wanted to hide from view. He racked his brain for ideas, blurting out loud the first good one to come to mind. “Let's exchange addresses!”

“Huh? Why?”

Ryan let go of Shane's wrist and grew shy. “I, uh, think you're cool and I wanna be friends with you! Yeah! That'd be cool!” He gave Shane his best smile, the best one he could give under pressure. “We can send each other letters!”

He swore he saw Shane turn a little pink. “Uh, no phone numbers?”

“My parents always use the phone, so it'll be hard.”

“Huh. Mine too. Alright, what's your address?”

Ryan quickly fished out a pen from his pocket, gesturing for Shane to give him his hand. He scrawled his address on the boy's hand in dark, red ink and capped the pen afterwards with a big smile. His heart felt like it was going to burst.

In that moment, Ryan couldn't help but feel like this was the start of something wonderful.

\---

It was late when Ryan came home. Of course he was met with his mother's rage, but he couldn't find it in himself to really care.

“Ryan! I was so worried! You were supposed to be home--”

“Mom!” He quickly cut her off and she couldn't help but notice the absolutely radiant look on his face. Then, her gaze flickered down to his pinky finger. “Mom, can you tell me the story tonight? I promise I won't fall asleep this time!”

\---

He fell asleep again, much to his mother's amusement.

“Perhaps I should just tell you the story at breakfast,” she mused aloud, a soft chuckle following her thought. After a bidding a soft goodnight to her slumbering son, she shut off the lights and left to her own bedroom.


	2. I Believe in Ghosts

Ryan found himself in the graveyard again, though it was his own accord that landed him there and not the mysterious methods of the universe. He was pissed at himself for managing to get into this situation in the first place. 

“I shouldn't have taken the bet,” he muttered to himself, shining the dim flashlight on his surroundings to check for any unwanted presences. Perhaps it was his paranoia, perhaps it was his ominous, dark surroundings, but he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched again. Though he yearned for company, it was the company of friends and not ghosts he wanted. In fact, he hoped to every single higher being that he wouldn't encounter a ghost tonight. Especially after his run-in with ghosts at the Queen Mary, Ryan could safely say that he was quite done with ghosts for the time being. Or forever. Maybe forever.

A deep breath exited him as he pressed his back against the familiar oak tree, hoping to bring some calm into his being. All he had to do was endure half an hour in the graveyard, his friends promising to get him after his time was done. Ryan trusted his friends, but there was an inkling of fear that they would screw him over. After all, they sent him in with nothing but a dingy flashlight whose battery looked like it was about to die any moment.

“Assholes,” he growled under his breath as the flashlight started to flicker, thumping it with the heel of his palm to get it to stop. Ryan knew turning off the flashlight would conserve battery, but only God knew what will come creeping from the depths of the graveyard’s darkness once his only source of light went out. 

Hitting the flashlight wasn't able to save the battery it seemed as the light died and Ryan was soon shrouded in a thick darkness. He cursed and pocketed the flashlight because while he wanted to throw it as far as he could out of frustration, the light was not his. 

Though as his frustration waned, a deep fear took its place as he realized that he was really stuck in a graveyard at night with a dead flashlight. God, this place is probably haunted, he thought bitterly as he tried to not yell at every odd sound that his ears managed to catch. There were a couple of attempts at trying to empty his mind in order to soothe his nerves, but his mind kept wandering and wondering about potential murders that could have taken place where he sat. Or hangings.

If not by ghosts, then surely his imagination would be the one to scare him to death. 

His mind didn't wander for long since his sight caught something peculiar. A light? Was someone else here? Was that the groundskeeper? The night guard? Should he hide?

Well whether he decided to hide or not, it was too late as the light was shining on him now. Ryan moved to shield his eyes and inwardly laughed as he thought the phrase “deer in the headlights” couldn't be more fitting. _This is it. This is how Ryan Steven Bergara will meet his end. Or I'll end up in a fuck ton of trouble that’ll end up going on my permanent record._

“Ryan?” He immediately looked up in search of the voice’s source, straining his eyes to make out the face that was dimly illuminated.

“Shane? Holy shit, is that you?” His heart was racing for two reasons, both being polar opposites. 

Shane laughed, shining his flashlight around their surroundings. “The one and only. Here on a dare or something?”

“God, how’d you know?” Ryan sighed as Shane sat down next to him, finding that Shane’s presence managed to induce the wave of calm that he was looking for all night. The thought of how perhaps this was the power of one’s soulmate briefly crossed his mind. “Man, I know this is violating the rules of the dare, but I don’t care anymore and I’m glad you’re here with me right now.” 

“Oh?” Shane scooted closer to Ryan. “But what if I’m actually a ghost?” He wiggled his fingers for added effect. This earned him a light punch to the shoulder and an exasperated sigh.

“Not the time, or the place, to joke about that kind of stuff man,” chided Ryan, his paranoia beginning to act up again. What the hell was watching him right now? “What if you anger whatever spirits live here?” This earned him a chuckle.

“Calm down Ryan, ghosts aren't real.” 

“They are!” Ryan shot back. “I bet you this place is haunted. I’m sure it is-- it’s a graveyard for God’s sake, it has to be.”

“Oh come on. It’s just a bunch of dead people in the ground and nothing more.” 

“How are you so-- so-- nonchalant about this?!” Ryan shivered and immediately wrapped his arms around him. His heart was pounding in his chest and his breathing began to quicken. “Oh shit, I just got the chills. Oh God, oh no--” 

“Ryan! That was literally a breeze passing by. Look!” Shane nudged Ryan’s side, forcing his gaze upwards, and pointed to the branches swaying above them. “See? It’s just the wind.”

After confirming that it was just the wind flowing through the area, Ryan exhaled deeply and rubbed his temples. “I’m digging my own grave by staying here any longer.”

“Man, what’s gotten into you?” Shane laughed, experiencing great schadenfreude at Ryan’s expense (much to Ryan’s chagrin). “Since when did you believe in ghosts? I thought we were on the same side about this.” He shook his head in mock disbelief. “Can't believe you're turning on me Ry.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at his friend’s response before mild confusion took over. “Wait-- Did you not get my letter yet? I explained everything about what happened when I went to the Queen Mary in there.”

“Oh,” Shane replied, blinking.

“ _Oh?!_ ”

“Yeah, well, I got it today, I just decided I was gonna read it in the morning.” He shrugged. “Didn’t know I’d run into you here tonight, so…”

Shane heard the sound of a smack, what he guessed to be Ryan’s palm slapping his forehead. This, of course, made Shane laugh.

“Long story short, I went to the Queen Mary and found out ghosts are real.”

“Oh come on, really?” Now it was Shane’s turn to roll his eyes. “What happened that made you believe?”

“I felt poking on my cheek the whole night!”

“Could’ve been your friend.”

“It wasn’t!”

“Well, how’d you know he wasn’t pranking you or anything?”

“He--” Ryan’s train of thought was abruptly cut off when his eyes landed on the glowing figure of a girl in rather ornate clothing who looked no older than he was, trying to hide herself behind a large gravestone not too far from where he sat as she spied on him and Shane. Once seeing that she had been caught, she had a look of surprise on her face before completely disappearing from view.

The world around him froze as he felt his blood run cold. He’d scream if he could, but every part of his body was locked in place. And oh God, why was the world trembling now--

“Ryan! Earth to Ryan!” No, that was just Shane grabbing his shoulders and shaking him hard. Oh. Right, they were having a conversation. “You went silent and then you turned really fucking pale. Did you see something?”

“You mean you _didn’t see it?!_ ” Ryan was still stuck in that moment, gesturing wildly to the gravestone he swore the ghost hid behind. He ignored Shane’s growing look of confusion, figuring that although he sounded crazy he really was not. “She was right there. Holy shit. I think I just saw a ghost.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure it was just your mind playing tricks on you or something. Or maybe a funky shadow.” Shane shrugged his shoulders and Ryan was dumbfounded; how could his friend remain so damn calm in the face of obvious adversity was above him.

“ _Dude_ \--”

“Ry, you know what? I just…” Shane abruptly stood up. His cupped his hands around his mouth, projecting his voice across the desolate plot. “Ghosts! Show yourselves!”

“Shane, what the fuck are you doing?!” whispered Ryan angrily. He was not going to die here tonight because of his friend’s stupid antics. 

“If you’re gonna come for my friend, you gotta come for me too!” The threat was proclaimed loudly and quite confidently. “It’s a two-for-one deal! The kind--”

Ryan erupted into hysterical laughter. “Shut up Shane!” His mind was too frazzled to conclude if Shane was genuinely trying to provoke whatever spirits resided in the cemetery or if Shane was saying inane things to cheer him up. Well, whichever one it was, it resulted in Ryan feeling more at ease than before (and a warm feeling resonating in his chest). “I-- God-- You’re so…” He struggled to speak between wheezes. “Really? A two-for-one deal?”

Shane shrugged. “I was under the impression that we were good enough friends to qualify for one. Was I wrong?” Ryan swore he heard a hint of worry.

“Ah, well, no. It’s nice to hear we’re at the ride or die level of friendship already.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully while Shane decided to return to his seat by Ryan’s side. “I’d say it’s about time, actually.”

“Oh?” Shane leaned in closer, grin plastered on his face.

“Yeah.” His gaze fell onto his pinky and though there was nothing, he couldn’t help but smile as well. “Anyways, let’s get the hell out of here.” Ryan stood, helping Shane up in the process. “I’ve probably done more than my time and my asshole friends probably fell asleep on me.”

“Yes,” Shane cleared his throat and shone his flashlight on the path. “Yeah, right. We should be going.” 

“Wait-- before we go, I have a question.”

“No, Ryan, ghosts are bullshit and I don’t believe in them after this.” Shane was wheezing when Ryan kicked his shin in reply.

“You’ll be eating your words right up when I prove you wrong.” Ryan laughed, shaking his head. “But that wasn’t my question. What made you decide to come to a graveyard in the middle of the night?”

The two started to walk to the exit. “Well, sometimes I like to take night walks and think.”

“What are you-- Shane the philosopher?” Ryan nudged his side, wearing a smirk.

Shane shook his head with a smile. “Fuck off.”

\---

Sneaking back into his house was no easy feat, but he managed and was quite thankful. He was exhausted mentally and physically after that whole experience and if it weren’t for Shane, he believed that he wouldn’t have made it out alive. However he did plan on giving his friends hell come morning when he would see them on his way to school for falling asleep on him.

Despite his body aching and sleep calling his name, his heart was fluttering and his mind was still running a mile a minute. Ryan figured that he had to do something to get rid of this energy before he could rest, so he sat down at his desk and pulled out a stack of papers from his drawer. 

\---

_Dear Ryan,_

_To answer your question, I’ve seen no red strings nor do I believe in fate. Is believing in fairy tales a hobby of yours or something? Miracles are probably more… probable than fate! Because miracles are all about luck, aren’t they?_

_The idea of fate is so stupid! Ryan, I can’t get how you would believe in this… restricting force on people’s free will. Plus there’s no proof of fate, it’s based purely on belief. I believe that hard work and dumb luck both contribute to where you will end up in life or something. This sounds harsh and I’m (not) sorry but you’re being ridiculous._

_Anyways I’m glad you’ve gotten your driver's license! You’ve finally left the bird’s nest! Hopefully this means we could meet again since we haven’t met after our first meeting, and hopefully this means we could meet somewhere besides the graveyard. Not that I don’t like that place, it’s just that I’d like to hang out with you in a more… normal place. Like normal friends do. Also because there’s no food there and having a picnic at a graveyard is something something disrespecting the dead (plus which one of us will make food to bring? pfft)._

_Also how is high school going for you? Have you thought about what colleges you wanted to go to yet? Ha ha ha, I know these aren’t the questions you want to be hearing (reading) from a friend, but I’m curious! ~~Maybe we can go to the same college~~_

_Write back soon! You’re so slow at replying to my letters, so hurry up._

_Sincerely,  
Shane_


End file.
